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'With his previous novels... Michael Scott Rohan established himself as one of
Britain's leading fantasy writers. His books have a strong and loyal following... Unlike
most fantasy writers, this series keeps a grip on reality which makes the contrast of the
imaginative passages all the more tempting.'
Now! Magazine
'...enough twists in the storyline and depth in the characters, along with a light
touch by the author, to make it an enjoyable read. It is a tale with a bit of everything -
action, humour, love and adventure, all against a background of the classic confrontation
between good and evil.'
Gavin Scoble, Daily Telegraph
'...plunges hero Steve Fisher into peril and slam-bang nonstop action... for 100
breathless pages before pausing at last to take stock of the situation... Finally in the
familiar haven of the Illyrica Tavern, things begin to sort themselves out... Rohan begins
to show the skills that separated his earlier Spiral books from more commonplace
fantasy... Steve is a complex protagonist, at once an intuitive merchant captain, trained
modern manager, unwilling military leader, (mostly) reformed playboy... He views the stuff
of the Grail legend, and the battle against Ancient Evil, without the usual tinctures of
Christianity and knightly codes of behaviour, and this makes for a refreshing change.
Though destiny is obviously closing in on him (as we see before he does) it's not all
courtly trumpery and the stale incense of piety. Oh yes, some truths and mysteries are
truly eternal - if that means anything in the Spiral's constant flux - but Steve won't
lose his modern savvy in their presence. Best of all, in the Spiral, the onset of maturity
doesn't mean an end to adventure. Though Cloud Castles finishes the trilogy, for
Steve Fisher it's only a beginning.'
Locus
'Knowest thou the mountain, with its bridge of cloud?
The mule plods warily; the white mists crowd.
Coiled in their caves the brood of dragons sleep,
The torrent hurls the rock from steep to steep...
Knowest thou the land? So far and fair!
Thou, whom I love, and I will wander there.'
Goethe, tr. Flecker
Twice before Stephen Fisher has set sail upon that shifting vortex of space and
time known as the Spiral - once drawn in by chance, another time by need. Now dread forces
older than humankind are summoning him back once more.
A veteran of awesome battles in realms of shadow and myth, businessman Steve Fisher is
now on the verge of becoming an international tycoon with his revolutionary shipping
network; yet he is still as lonely and unsatisfied as ever. But meanwhile the world seems
to be falling apart around him, as forces of anarchy and violence erupt from the heart of
hi-tech Europe. Through mountain-paths among the clouds he is drawn to an ancient and
fabulous city, and finds himself the unwilling thief of one of civilization’s most
powerful archetypes - even as an equally ancient terror is reaching out across the Spiral
to ensnare it. If it succeeds, an apocalyptic struggle that has raged for millenia will
end in blood - and a new, eternal dark age will begin.
Pursued by the sorcerous forces both of evil and of good, and by the fanatical and
murderous human agent Alison, Steve must summon his old and trusted friends from the
Spiral to help him in his fight to harness the power he has assumed, to fulfil the
remarkable promise of his blood and birth, and achieve the still more startling destiny
that awaits him upon the infinite reaches of the Spiral.
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